jacky // main blog @somestarstuff // mostly posting about love island the game but every now and then I'll talk about the show like it's fundamental Carl Jung
dare I say best looking cast since s12 (but Ali and Amari carryyyyy)
and that's unfortunately the best thing I have to say about this season so far 🫢
if Jason evil why is he hot
Ali being a short king (im just assuming based on how he looks next to lucia), pastry chef, with sweet personality? SOUNDS FAMILIAR 😭
ok ok tbf Bobby was a hospital caterer who wanted to become a pastry chef so really this description is more kelly
and he is hot even though my brain is like bro your hair is gonna get so greasy gotta move your hand 😅
first impressions game, for the record I threw away MC's chance to choose an LI to kiss bc i wanted to see what would happen if you chose Jason. It's a cheek kiss or refusal, and if you pick cheek kiss he's like yeah okay. and we move on.
Theres a gem scene where you can hear who the boys are into that i did not pay for because putting my thinking cap on, each of the boys other than Jason saying they're into two girls and I havent had to pick between them yet, i think I know what the answer would be
Anyway I saw Ali was very popular and simply to be a contrarion bc i liked both anyway I had Carlo as my first choice and Ali as second
but in retrospect, I don't think it matters like, the masquerade thing was so GEM scene so I think its gonna be like Owen last season where it does not even matter post casa
(and possibly like last season, Jason does something stupid so Amari brings back your choice number 1 and you bring in number 2 but considering it just happened and everyone was annoyed, hopefully not)
i always get annoyed at raunchy races every season bc of the prompts they use
Ike it's so easy to give the characters little details you don't even necessarily need to keep track of despite branching (like who's tallest, etc) to give people content to fawn over
but no we gotta pick random shit that doesn't make sense like "most creative boy"
and every time it was for the three guys to pick mc, I'm pretty sure it was "girl he's most attracted to" which aside from being repetitive, I just want mc to be valued for more than that idk
alternativrly this one is so on the nose
there's also one about like most loyal boy and then the guys argue that it can't be Jason because he's been flirting with all the girls
but that's not true
first of all, i know he has random beef with mc (for some reason can't be nice even though it's set up to be they're just like,,, not attracted to each other at best. like if there was ever a time to have a throwaway hazeem character that we cant romance, it would be here during casa)
but I don't think the other girls said they were even interested in him, and he only ever picks Amari for challenges, so idk what everyone's on
just another fusebox inconsistency they're getting their wires crossed when it comes to antagonist tropes
the two non masked man boys then take mc for a quick chat to try to make an impression on her and I wish they did a better job bc they're really pushing for you to go with masked man
like this in particular bugged me when they said "oh Carlo is so annoying talking about you all the time, at least we like the subject matter, but it's annoyjng" which has some personality in the dialogue
and then mc asks how annoying
and then he goes back on his statement and is like "ok not that annoying" and im like it come onnnn no banter??
anyway Carlo remembers where he knows mc from so of course I pay the gem scene
and for whatever reason as soon as I learn it's on a cruise I'm like oh mc you exaggerated how hot this was during spin the bottle 🤣
you also have to pay for a nice outfit in the cruise?? I already paid the 17 gems how dare they ask me that
and I should've expected it but it's so trope-y lol
also something about this suit style in particular feels very penguin tuxedo to me
but actually this idea could've been good in like a how I met your mother ted and Victoria way but I just know it's never going to come up again this season 😫
anyway they made plans to meet at a fountain in Athens if they wanted to know more, and mc can say she didn't go, so I did pick that, and he explains he went but got dragged away to find a friend and then came back and thought he missed his chance (good point, why DIDNT they come up with a time) and called them "ships passing in the night", a phrase that would make so much more sense if mc said she did go but missed him instead of what I picked, which was her not going
Last thing about this is just that I for some reason thought they hooked up but it makes it seem like it was just an underwater kiss (fusebox looooves that one)
as for why canonically he has been watching the show (he knows mc's coffee order) but didnt see her talking about their night during spin the bottle it is never addressed lol
but yeah this doesn't amount to anything, most of the other "history" talk is about Diamond and Trent
oh that's the other thing Diamond is back
I like to think she and Charlie (or ig for some people Sammy) stuck it out for an oddly long time but broke up earlier this year before the season. idk they were kinda both evil and it worked for them
but whatever I doubt she's coming into the main villa
speaking of,
if Odessa and Alexis are evil then why are they hot
I do want to mention despite kinda feeling that about Trent and Obi this season bc of how the episodes kind of switch between an obi centered to Trent centered volume, aside from last volume, I did kind of miss them this episode
and like Obi more than Trent, which is surprising bc I think I was more siding with Trent earlier this season despite his flaws
Another thing since I'm discussing the main villa, is Myra and Billie. I want to think it's going to be a big point about them staying loyal or not because Myra asked us about it THREE TIMES
but I think it's just fusebox bad writing
but could you imagine if they both don't twist and then movie night comes and either (a) Billie gets mad bc Myra explores with a casa boy despite mc telling her not to and Billie can then become bestie instead of myra or (b) Billie gets mad bc MC keeps telling Myra to explore and Billie is then more passive aggressive to MC
moving on, there is a losers party
I think once again it gets mentioned here that Jason is trying too hard with all the girls but this may be the first instance he's seen flirting with not amari
you can get a dance with your first or second choice boy . And despite Carlo and MC having a ✨️moment✨️ based on their masked dance memory, I take a page out of Trent's book and flip flop and picked Ali. But that scene is like 3 lines long before you get interrupted with a game, so truly he has no chance
(except I think he's so hot I might pick him anyway)
but the game is guess who said it
the quote "I wish I had history with her" in particular annoys me bc who cares if they have history, they're not together now
like get up bro, pull a little "he was your past but I want to be your future"
oh I don't remember what happens after this. a cliffhanger, probably
wish he still had sad eyes instead of the suave Hollywood trope but maybe thats something about his image he'll have to overcome later and mc is the only girl who "truly sees him past the fame"
also hey pat on the back for fusebox not making this main character another dominic/eren/roberto/zeph type
Just watched an edit of love island uk s8 Ekin su and Davide and once again I'm asking fusebox for an enemies to lovers
but the problem is, yes I would've loved it to be someone like Rewan, but I think after watching that edit, the absolute animosity required, it would need to be Tristan
for some reason though iris goes back to chasing obi as if she wasnt all about Trent last volume? so that made my prediction wrong but how could I predict fusebox would forget their own storyline the volume prior (they do this all the time i shouldve known)
they gotta build in shame into these characters bc like its unrealistic to me iris, even for as bad ass as she wants to pretend to be, will constantly go for guys that have ALREADY rejected her. if someone has shown a little interest or maybe was wishy washy then sure but this is embarrassing
Myra brings in Billie, and considering Owen last season, I have to think someone at fusebox was a 5 seconds of summer fan in 2018 because the blonde streak punk rock feels at least a little michael Clifford inspired
that being said oh my god he's just so much like the tattoos have too much red and are all over the place imo and hes always wearing patterns so thats also a lot
I dont remember the name of his band (last call to Cardiff or last to call cardiff) but either way, that means either his hand tattoo or his shirt is wrong
im betting the shirt bc it screams AI ad for a bar to me that I keep seeing on the street 😫
edit: ok you know what I guess if it's the latter it could be correct bc maybe his thumbs have the "to"
Myra likes him whatever not my type anyway
I wish the first time you pick Kai or Obi this volume was when it cuts off the other route because it's kinda sad that Amari clearly likes Kai and he just won't budge and MC is not giving him anything
And it also sucks bc i just know he was gonna leave this volume and if we take out all the parts at the end of those chats where he's flirting, he's actually a pretty good friend to MC and it would be great if he could couple with Amari and we kept both of them as friends
There's a "iconic heartbreaker" challenge that I didnt remember until they explained it
More Obi and Trent being mad yes fight
But the biggest revelation here (which barely made an impact outside of this) was Amari putting together the pieces that Trent wanted to end things with her, not because they weren't feeling it, but because Trent specifically wanted to go after MC. Which I thought she knew? Or at least last volume, she didn't seem to care who went after Trent (but I get that that's different)
idk i like Trent's route but it's like time and time again he's showing he doesn't communicate well and avoids conflict and it always comes back to bite him and he's got no defense because he knows it's wrong
even his confession way later in the volume that he didn't expect to fall for MC and the feelings just grew, but like be honest from the jump the way the other boys were too? In theory they also all started with some initial attraction that grew over time.
and if that was something his character would have to get over that would be wonderful but I know it's fusebox and it's not and so i have to decide if im chill with that
its looking again like im picking a casa boy this season idk
but anyway there is a cute date with obi where yall talk about the future and im messy and picked mc would want a swimming pool, specifically remembering that Trent said he likes to swim to decompress and MC does too, even if the game doesn't remember that
but he apologizes for jumping to conclusions and all is fine
Recoupling where iris picks first and I already complained about that
Then Myra and Lucia pick their guys
I'm surprised Amari would continue to pick Trent as a friendship couple when there was no discussion of her no longer going to try with Kai. Especially because from her perspective, MC could've picked Trent and had good reason to, if she just wanted to keep him in the villa as a friend.
whatever anyway you also get a chance to pick NOAH and I so nearly did it for the chaos but again, I like Kai as a friend and would be willing to keep him as a friend
Of course that doesn't happen because he is dumped immediately after
there's a really quick compatibility challenge shoved in here that means nothing
and then Obi/Iris and MC/Kai are voted weakest. I wouldve liked to at least pretend the islanders voted their favorite girl and boy to save instead of the public bc then why have the public vote so much and separate those vote reveals in the first place? I'm sure the islanders wouldve picked the same people anyway.
But whatever, there's also chats in between when MC is at risk of getting dumped where Obi and Trent say how much they would miss her and would walk out with her.
paid the gems to see what Trent would say, it's cute and I assume the one for og boy also cute
but like aside from him saying stuff about his job I feel like no one really treats him like he's a big celebrity aside from Amari in the first two volumes
like at some point everyone got used to him
I wish the guys (Noah, rui) would tease him more about being a celebrity when they're making comments or like "oh because you're famous you think you can get away with anything" or if one of the girls was trying to make it as an influencer to go even harder for him, just to make that statement hold more weight
or if they did go the cocky overconfident entitled celebrity enemies turned lovers route rip to those two days we all thought it could've been 🥺
but whatever
Iris and Kai leave so Obi and MC are both single for Casa
so much of this is so convoluted to make it work when literally it shouldn't be this hard idk
I guess it was just to make sure mc was single for casa
but sure fine whatever I saw the casa leak pls be good love interests 😍
and rq while i'm thinking about it, i'm thinking OG LI is not bringing back his ex and the only bombshell we get is the one Myra brings back (the same way s13 they had only Nico bring back a bombshell even though MC also went to the sleepover villa)
And that bombshell is either coded for Myra or another late game LI (like Caleb but more devastating because you'd have to steal him from bestie Myra instead of Gio)
And my only reasoning for this is because I could see them dumping at most one couple + one boy, but I don't think they'd do a double dumping this stage of the story. And I would think Casa is soon (the volume after this one), where they usually only have four girls (so MC, [Iris or Amari], Myra, and Lucia).
And Iris seems like she's going for Trent, which means Amari is gonna have MC's leftover boy between Kai and OG LI. So probably Amari getting dumped. (And probably Noah during the recoupling ceremony for being single unless they're writing him and Myra/Iris a redemption arc.)
i just remembered this one thing from s3 love island uk that i'd love to see in a litg season
so Jonny and Tyla liked each other and were kind of unofficially a couple even though she was flirting with Theo, and however it happened they both ended up at risk of getting dumped, but then they are forced to choose between the two of them which to dump and who got to move on, and so Jonny, who to be fair was there longer and saw even the one girl he liked was gonna leave him for someone else, "sacrifices" himself and eliminates so that Tyla can stay.
And this meant very little on TV to me tbh because I did not care for any of the parties involved
But like I could so see that this season lol
Like Trent and MC could finally couple up next volume, but then maybe because it is implied to the public that MC was pursuing Trent behind OG LI's back, that it lands them in the bottom in a public vote. Then they have to choose who to dump, but of course Trent it going to eliminate himself.
But then he gets voted back in later.
Or lowkey even if he did that while coupled up with Iris or Amari, so that MC doesn't feel as much an obligation to try to self eliminate after he leaves because they were not really a thing.
I'm not saying I would like how conveniently he's gone, but it is a little more interesting an obstacle than "oh well, Iris picked first and she didn't get the hint"
I did play this volume i just forgot to say anything about it
anyway it was fine
ok I played this yesterday and I don't remember the order so apologies this is a mess more than usual:
its' weird if you're on the OG boy route that hes straight up not there this ENTIRE volume, like truly the game wants you to pick trent
and like i was going to anyway but I feel bad for those of yall who dont like him
maybe like half the volume makes more sense especially because its gonna happen again in casa anyway
there's (another?) compatibility challenge and kai matches like 3/5 but Trent matches 4/5
this happens every time but it bothers me that Trent is like smugly looking at MC when he matches and ignores amari's feelings (assuming this is before their talk ending things) so i don't pick any flirty options for him sorry bro
Iris is going for Trent now and Amari is over him. I kinda think this makes sense, like it is anticlimactic and I wish we got to say more to Amari while she's working through her feelings leading up to her dropping him (because if not a big blow up, I understand that we wouldn't be around during that conversation but something to feel more connected to the characters would be nice)
and it is amicable which is nice that now amari is our friend. Somehow this hurts me more on behalf of Amari, because she was so excited and tried so hard while being herself/honest/not messing with people's relationships and it just feels like she got tired of trying, which happens but oof.
But hey Kai is sweet but not for me so here's hoping that works out and isn't another devastating blow for Amari
(and I can't help but think fusebox wrote Amari and then remembered all their racist allegations because of Hope and Grace and changed gears)
Iris notably only pulls guys for chats, even her closest friend is Kai. so it was mildly interesting her characterization when she gets pulled for a girl's chat and she's like "oh I've never done these before" and even though amari doesn't like her they're like "well youre one of us now" and maybe that meant a lot to her.
but also i was thinking oh Iris reminds me of Lucie Love Island UK S5 being like "oh i only have guy friends because girls are such drama" (also the hair lol)
But anyway, Kai says Iris is just using Noah even though they seem perfect for each other or whatever
And I simply don't care about Noah so whatever but in the GAME i'll pretend I do
mostly because like if this was love island uk, he could absolutely turn around public perception of him being terrible for pieing off myra if he started being genuine (Not on USA because it's shorter and the public holds grudges, and the game is shorter so it IS more like USA than UK sometimes)
It was funny he quickly tried to pivot to MC though I have to admit I laughed a little
Kai and MC chatting about if he should tell Noah about what Iris said is a decent chat tbh, like yeah it is tough to hear and maybe he won't want it and he'll cause tension for no reason. Then also considering Kai's personality he wouldn't want to.
Which I also thought was a nice touch when he said smth like "I've been a lot more confident than I am irl because for example I chose you, but I'm nervous" and then you can step in and tell Iris' secret when they're arguing in the kitchen for him, and he is appreciative.
Speaking of Trent, he is featured a lot this volume. I don't like the way this season is kind of like one week Obi, one week Trent, one week Obi, one week Trent, but I did like a bit of the content that came out of it.
Like there's a chat where they're talking about someone else and MC says like "oh yeah it must be hard to watch the person you want get on with someone else" and like oh that's how he's feeling (it's cheesy it's a trope idc I eat it up)
And you get to know him too. I forgot to mention there was speed dates at some point, and I enjoyed that chat.
I will also say there's a part where MC says in the compatibility challenge that she thinks a home cooked meal is romantic (if the player picks it) and considering it's in the same volume, a quick nod to that would've been nice here. Like Trent by default agrees with you, and in this conversation he like explains he doesn't have time to cook a lot but misses his mom's cooking, so like that should have more impact if they intentionally called back to that answer in the compatibility challenge but it's wasted.
And similarly Kai says he would like a date cooking at home and staying in even though by default he specifically doesn't agree with MC's answer (I guess in theory he could've just thought it wasn't the MOST romantic thing, but still, just easy points to address it and make the episodes feel more connected).
Milly flirts with Obi in the sleepover villa but it doesn't matter because the real big reveal is the ex storyline they're setting up.
There's a party to welcome back Obi and Myra, and they don't show up until the end >:(
Gotta stop with the repetitive dialogue, Amari asks again if she can flirt with Kai and Iris announces again she's flirting with Trent
Lucia and Rui are on the rocks again, kind of the same issue as a few volumes before where they both say they have physical chemistry but nothing else in common.
Have to admit I'm mildly interested in what's happening there but we don't get much say in it. I assume we only get glimpses because I already rejected Lucia's route, but if you're on her route that's probably when she grafts.
She's using Noah to make Rui jealous, which considering the news Noah just got that Iris doesn't actually like him, I think that's kinda mean.
But we'll see if that blows up in her face or not (likely not)
I do wonder if it's different if you're on her route though. Because usually the wlw route is boring and everyone's just kinda like okay with it happening on the side. But if Rui is actually upset that Lucia is pursuing MC and jealous of MC, then that's something! Usually the other guy is just like chill with it. (Or MC's partner is sometimes mad but more jealous about the other guys in the villa and not the female LI).
The spin the bottle game was fun enough though, and the Lucia Noah kiss did shock me too
MC had a mystery hookup and because Trent is not here for that reveal, I feel like they're gonna say it was him later on (just showing once again, the game so desperately wants you to pick Trent).
But earlier in the season Trent has a blindfold on and MC can't recognize him, so I'm hoping it's a different bombshell she's referring to (if he has to show up at all) because idk that's a little funny to me that it would happen to her twice.
Anyway the confession scene in the treehouse. We knew.
I gotta admit the set up of "I didn't kiss you in spin the bottle. That was rude. Can I kiss you now to make up for it?" again I'm just a sucker for that cheesy shit.
Didn't do it though (despite already saying yes to the pool kiss earlier in the season) because I'm thinking MC is like "you want to be just friends, you want to kiss me, you want to pursue Amari, and now you want to be with me? make up your mindddd" so she's gotta process this lol
^^ if fusebox was real they'd let me say this to justify stretching out the slow burn
oh and Obi shows up while Trent is getting her hair out of her face so it looks sus anyway
--
okay overall i did like a lot of the ideas of this volume, and I liked having chiller chats instead of being thrown into two challenges every episode
just the execution week by week of Trent then OG LI then Trent again is wishy washy
and some continuity errors
but overall yeah i'd say it certainly was an episode. I'm feeling pretty neutral about the future episodes lol, not super excited but maybe just because I've played so much of this lol
yeah as far as i'm concerned perfect love island usa season we got:
first place - friends to lovers, both of them very important to the other islanders' support systems (Bryce and Trinity)
second place - girl put through hell but luckily ended up with the right guy at the end (carl and aniya)
third place - toxic (Melanie and Sincere)
fourth place - boring but loyal couple and people like them (or at least the girl) individually (Kayda and Zach)
fifth place - tragically someone with personality gets cut right before the finale (Kenzie) but also thank god the mean couple didn't make it (KC and Titi)
also shoutout to:
Jen (for going from just there to full of memes and one liners)
Bea and Gabriel (tragically cut love story about two people who felt finally seen for who they are in the beginning. But in the hindsight probably for the best they ended on a high (and i will be ignoring their post villa content, they don't interest me past this 💀))
Corbin (necessary evil and also I cannot stop saying "Mela-kneee" in his voice)
also im not watching the uk season at all (bc i simply cannot keep up watching both seasons at once) but ohh am i living for the angsty Jasmine and Lorenzo edits on tiktok
from what i can gather they were a thing initially and for whatever reason split off
now they're friends and she's with some guy anmed Kavan, who sucks, even left her single after Casa, and he's always there to comfort her. And theres still some tension between them.
But also, Lorenzo was coupled with another girl named Yasmin (not confusing at all). I did see the clip of someone asking him if he misses someone whose name ends with "asmin" and he says yes and they say "what does it start with" and he goes "I don't know yet" ?!?!?!
But anyway he meets Julia in Casa, and the only clip I've seen of them is so cute they seem great together. And of course that means the edits get SADDER.
And NOW it's snog, marry, pie. Kavan and Jasmine have made up but Kavan is still an annoying little boy and when it is Jasmine's turn she pies Lorenzo to prove she's really closed the door on them (even though at this point they're still friends??? she's still coming to him for advice when Kavan sucks??) and at Lorenzo's turn he gives her a kiss on the cheek
and Lorenzo and Julia are voted best couple why would they leave each other after that
everyone start being nicer to kenzie rn she's my top 3 and im afraid she's probably getting dumped even though shes on the same island as KC, Sincere, and Zach
Amari says theres drama and it's just iris flirting with everyone (mostly obi)
Trent pulls mc aside and we're back to the him sort of saying he likes you but not really bc hes with amari the way the other slow burns are (nathan, ozzy, etc)
it feels like the star thing doesn't matter anymore we're just in a normal season again, which i guess after Dream boy and bestie that's fine?
game cant decide where iris is flirting, with Noah or Trent or Obi
Thank godddd myra is sick of Noah but im sad they didn't give her a storyline about Rui after their kiss, like they didnt need to fight over him as much as Anabel/Milly/Murphy but as Myra's bestie maybe a conversation would've been nice. At least Lucia says something about them talking it through and working it out between them but they dont talk about him saying hes not going to explore anything with Myra.
license to swill happens, mostly just noah and iris being annoying
I, the number one Amari defender, did of course only take one screenshot this volume and it's of her defending MC
hideaway mid day???
if the hideaway is gonna be open this early they might as well do what love island uk does which is just have it open all the time
MC and Obi have sex then she immediately gets stolen by Kai so I guess that's why it's midday lmao
I still think the hideaway is opened SOO early like
Obi sets up a surprise which is just a tour around the villa that constantly is interrupted lol
I live for the every now and then one line of dialogue that's like "And Trent is staring at you" or whatever lol (CRUMBS it's dire out here)
Also Iris steals Noah so presumably they can get dumped together soon
and Myra partnered with Obi so I assume this means next recoupling MC gets a choice between Obi (OG LI) and Kai and Myra gets the other
and presumably they turn into a completely different personality so then Myra can get her man in Casa to swap out for them bc this is what we always do 🤣
unfortunately I think the public does not like kenzie and won't vote for her but I'd rather her and Dylan get fourth place over Kayda and Zach at this point. Not even for the love aspect, just because they've given far more entertainment than Kayda and Zach
And also like yeah Zach is being annoyingly cagey about his feelings and they were annoyed the other girls weren't happy for them being "exclusive" over just calling each other boyfriend/girlfriend but I think the girls did articulate their point well that they are either dating or having a fling, but if the latter then theres no need to call it "being exclusive" except for playing the game for the cameras and giving the illusion of moving forward when they're not
And it's so interesting because that was definitely a thing in previous seasons, but the ones I remember moreso use the term "being exclusive" as while in the villa, they choose not to explore further bombshells. So it makes sense to do so earlier in the game, but it's like the last week, so if they're not saying boyfriend/girlfriend then they don't need the extra label. Still, lowkey, i think if the public liked Zach more, then this wouldn't have been as much of an issue. And yet, the fact that even the islanders that have been sequestered are clocking this speaks to how suspicious this is.
Another interesting thing is that Zach is on this island because his brother Charlie was on last season and was the first eliminated, so literally in his intro video, Zach says "i want to make it further than my brother" and it's like genie rules: because he is going further on the show, but he's getting more negative attention than his brother who stayed for a short time, was a little bit funny when he left, and then got to control his own narrative on social media to get more positive public opinion.
